Lisa Turpin
Ideally a blurb would go here. Again with the not everything, but all things on the sheet. __TOC__ Lisa Marie Turpin Nicknames/Aliases: Unsurprisingly, most people call her by her actual name, which is already short enough. She has had, of course, her share of oddball friends (and foes) throughout her life that insisted on getting creative and calling her something else - but those were exceptions. Date of Birth: February 13, 1980. Now 28 years old. Place of Birth: Leeds, England. Former House: Ravenclaw, 1991-1998. Bloodline: Muggle-born. Her mother was a Squib from a pureblood family and her father is a Muggle. Wand: 10½ inches, hazel wood, fairy hair core, swishy. This is her fourth wand already - Lisa's wands have an odd tendency to suffer accidents and/or get lost. Sexual orientation: Heterosexual. Patronus: Blackbird. Marital status: Single. Occupation: Magical wards and curses specialist for the Ministry of Magic, freelance curse-breaker. Lisa specializes in assessing and removing curses and magical wards (or getting through without completely removing them, depending on the case), both ancient and modern. She also sets up and tests magical security systems. Having been working as a curse-breaker for nearly ten years now, Lisa has a good deal of experience on the field. She really does enjoy her job, and can't imagine anything that would be more fulfilling. Her main motivation is not money, but challenge - she would never divulge that, of course, but, if the project is interesting enough, she may even work for free. Lisa can get rather absorbed when working (or talking about her job), and has been known to ignore basic physiological needs (hers and others') while engrossed at work. Home: A two-bedroom flat in wizarding London. Finances: Middle-class. Lisa could possibly be a lot more well-off if only she cared at least a little bit about money and actually paid attention to her finances. As a matter of fact, she doesn't even know exactly how much she has in Gringotts - she just deposits her earnings every month and withdraws the Galleons whenever she needs them, without really paying much attention to the numbers. Luckily, she has a fairly good income and is a modest spender, so this complete lack of planning has not been a problem so far. Household: Lisa shares her flat with a kneazle named Grump - yeah, he's not all that friendly. Family The Turpins Father: Bernard Turpin - b. 1952 - Muggle, musician. Born in Leeds, still lives in the city. Mother: Cornelia Turpin, née Yaxley - 1953-1982 - Squib, former Ministry of Magic worker. Born in Norwich, Norfolk. Aunt: Beatrice Cornwell, née Turpin - 1948 - Muggle, Psychiatrist. Sister to Bernard. Married to Christian Cornwell, mother to Marion and Alice. Born in Leeds, still lives there with her husband. Aunt: Bethany O'Byrne, née Turpin - 1950 - Muggle, Veterinarian. Sister to Bernard. Married to Sean O'Byrne, mother to Daniel. Born in Leeds, now lives in Dublin. Grandfather: Clifford Turpin - 1929 - Muggle. Father to Bernard. Born in Leeds, still lives there with his wife. Grandmother: Moana Turpin, née Makoare - 1927 - Muggle. Mother to Bernard. Born in New Zealand, of Māori origin. Lives in Leeds. The Yaxleys Grandfather: Alexander Yaxley - 1918-2001 - Pureblood wizard. Father to Cornelia. Born in Norwich. Grandmother: Lucretia Yaxley, née Burke - 1921 - Pureblood witch. Mother to Cornelia. Born in York. Lives in Norwich. External Appearance: Lisa is pretty much the epitome of blasé. She mostly maintains a casual, nonchalant poise that's nearly irritating at times (or often, depending on one's tolerance). Wherever she is, whatever she is doing, she'll likely look calm and unconcerned - even when that's not the case. She has a relaxed posture and mainly moves in a deliberate, yet unhurried way (which, once again, can be rather aggravating if one is nervous or impatient). While not particularly short (she stands at about 5'6"), Lisa somehow gives the impression of being a small individual, mostly due to her narrow bones and generally delicate frame. She has few curves and, were not for her rather feminine facial features, she would look remarkably like a teenage boy. Lisa has dark brown hair that she keeps short for convenience, large brown eyes and a naturally fair skin that is almost permanently sporting a light tan. Lisa favours casual clothing and, mostly, she looks like she just rolled out of bed, picked a random outfit, ruffled up her hair with her fingers and walked out of the door (and in nine times out of ten, you can bet she actually did just that). She dresses almost exclusively in Muggle clothes, frequently a plain top, jeans and boots combo - the more comfortable, the better. First Impression: A pixie-looking sort of woman that, for her appearance, could very well be the singer of an alternative rock band. Internal Personality: Lisa has a great (albeit sharp) sense of humour, and the most uptight sorts will often jump to the conclusion that she doesn't take life too seriously. That's true only to an extent; while she will, indeed, have a devil-may-care attitude towards many things in life (including some that are notably important to most other people), she can be surprisingly passionate when it comes to her ideals, and to things that matter to her - her family, her friends and her job, for instance. Mainly rational and logic-driven, Lisa may often come across as unemotional and detached. Far from being a callous person, however, she's actually quite compassionate - just not in a sappy way. She has a hands-on approach to life and will most likely prompt her friends to solve their problems objectively than cry along with them. As a matter of fact, emotional outbursts make her uncomfortable, and she's often clueless on how to deal with overly-emotional people. Lisa has an adventurous streak and is inevitably drawn to challenges, especially intellectual ones. She likes pushing her limits and, for a "reasonable" person, she actually takes quite a lot of risks. Pretty much a rebel at heart, she likes questioning things (sometimes, admittedly, unnecessarily), and has a knack for thinking out of the box - which sometimes may make her appear a little eccentric. Political Views: Lisa possibly doesn't care enough about politics to ever become an activist, but she most certainly have opinions. But then again, she has opinions on pretty much everything. Being a self-declared free-spirited person, her political views are mostly of the liberal sort. Quirks/Habits: - Lisa likes intelligent conversations (or, often, arguments) and is frequently accused (with reason) of being intellectually elitist. She will rarely maintain deep, long-term relations with people that she considers to be intellectually incompatible. She's also very fond of battles of wit and will often make disconcerting highbrow jokes that few people understand. - While Lisa is not a particularly good cook, she likes eating well, and mostly takes great care choosing her food. She also has a habit of drinking wine with her meals. - She has a pet peeve with people who talk aimlessly, too much or too loud - even more so if someone manages a combination of those. She believes people should only talk when they actually have something to say. - She collects multi-coloured socks. The weirdest, the better. - She has a habit of marking important events of her life with tattoos, which means an ever-growing number of designs on assorted parts of her body. - She's going to quit smoking tomorrow. Strengths: analytical thinking, good cognitive skills, quick wit. Lisa is very good at solving puzzles and riddles, especially ones that require lateral thinking. Her main academic strengths are Arithmancy and Charms, and she's also fairly good with defensive spells. Weaknesses: Lisa has trouble dealing with menial, daily tasks. She abhors routine and has a tendency to abandon projects halfway through if they become repetitive or boring. She has a sort of carpe-diem disposition, living for today and not worrying too much about the future, and can often act rather carelessly and irresponsibly. Her main academic weaknesses are Herbology, Potions and Astronomy. In terms of magic, her knowledge of minor, handy day-to-day and household spells is painfully limited. Fears: Lisa tends to avoid long-term commitments for fear she won't be able to live up to the expectations and will end up disappointing others. She's afraid of losing her father, to whom she's very close, and her few close friends. Lisa also has strong (unpleasant) feelings towards dead things that do not stay as dead as they might. Boggart: A swarm of inferi. Philias: Puzzles, riddles and mental challenges. Hobbies/Interests: Reading, Wizard chess, playing cards (mainly poker), logic puzzles, strategy games, music, rock climbing, watching Quidditch (she supports the Appleby Arrows). Likes: challenges, traveling, kneazles, wine, Italian food, intellectual pursuits, meeting new people, trying new things, cutting wit, sarcasm, boldness, impertinence, watching the haughty lose their poise and the self-possessed lose control. Dislikes: limits, shallowness, prejudice, intellectual laziness, blind followers, brawl-over-brains types, vulgarity, unreasonableness, know-it-alls, excessive talking, uptightness, fussiness, stupidity in general. Favourite Belongings: her books, her climbing shoes, her sock collection. She's also very fond of an old tartan armchair she owns, which is her favourite perch for reading. Favourite Places: - Her flat. It's not particularly big, nor flashy, and it certainly has room for improvement - still, Lisa loves it there. It's the one place in the world that she can arrange exactly to her liking, and she makes full use of that freedom. One of the first things she made soon after moving in was to build a climbing wall in the middle of her living room - which should say enough about the freedom matter. - Her father's house in Leeds. It'll always feel like home to her. She still has a bedroom there, which is kept pretty much untouched since her Hogwarts years. - Cairo, where she spent her first two years after leaving Hogwarts. It was her first experience living "alone" (actually, she shared a small flat with two other curse-breaker apprentices), and Lisa has very fond memories of that period of her life. - Mountain tops. Summits combine the feeling of a challenge conquered with a nearly overwhelming sensation of freedom. It doesn't get any better than that for Lisa. Secrets: - Lisa is infertile. She had her reproductive system permanently damaged after an accidental abortion at the age of twenty-four, when she failed to receive proper medical care. She's especially reluctant of letting her father know that, as she knows he had always dreamed of having grandchildren. Since then, she's also acquired a habit of breaking-up her relationships whenever things start getting serious, for fear of being rejected. - Even being pretty much a pacifist and against any sort of confrontation (especially physical ones), Lisa wishes she had been present in the Battle of Thirty Thousand. History Cornelia Yaxley was the only heir of purebloods Lucretia and Alexander Yaxley and, to their great disgust, it soon became obvious that the child had no magical talent. Afraid of disgracing the family, the couple sent their Squib daughter away to the remotest Muggle boarding school they could find, hopefully to be forgotten. It was in such school that Cornelia met a Muggle boy named Bernard, who would later become her husband. Lisa was born in 1980 in Leeds, only daughter to Bernard Turpin, who by then had become a professional musician, and Cornelia, now a Muggle liaison for the Ministry of Magic. Barely two years later, in March 1982, an incident with a vampire (of which the details are still unclear) took the life of Cornelia, and what little connection the Yaxleys still had to the Turpins was promptly cut. Raised solely by her Muggle father, Lisa grew up largely unaware of the magical world. A precocious child, she matured quickly and, from a very early age, she developed a quite persistent and annoying habit of questioning things, which her father inadvertently encouraged. Lisa's magical abilities remained largely unnoticed by her family, as they were primarily restricted to her perception and did not manifest themselves outwardly during her childhood. The invitation to Hogwarts came pretty much as a shock to her father, but Lisa herself was thrilled with the prospect of experiencing something completely new and unexpected. Moving to a boarding school changed Lisa's life significantly - Bernard Turpin had always been a quite permissive parent, and the school's rigorous restraints and strict rules impacted her greatly. She had to learn discipline (particularly concerning restraining her sharp-tongue in class) the hard way; in her first year, she spent a great deal of her free time in detention. Despite all the awkwardness of having to learn everything about the wizarding world on her own, Lisa did fairly well in school. Sorted into Ravenclaw, she was quick to adapt to her new reality and, soon, she was at home in Hogwarts. A passionate student (even if not all that organized), she managed good marks throughout all her school years. She remained, though, mostly withdrawn from the flurry of social activity; she had few friends and spent most of her time reading (mostly outdoors, whenever possible), or tailing the Arithmancy teacher, Professor Vector (Arithmancy had quickly become Lisa's favourite subject, soon after the start of her third year). With her connexion to the pureblood Yaxleys largely unknown, Lisa suffered the prejudices against Muggle-borns in full scale during the war. She saw herself forced to abandon Hogwarts in the middle of her seventh year and never took the NEWTs, but, fortunately, she managed to secure a curse-breaker job at Gringotts with her OWL results. Lisa was immediately sent to Egypt for training, which spared her the worst of the conflicts. In October 1998, she returned to England briefly to take part in a task force especially formed to raid Death Eater safehouses, in which curse-breaking expertise was required. That was pretty much her only contribution to the war, something that she came to regret later. After the training period in Egypt, Lisa was relocated to Budapest, where she worked for Gringotts for five years. In 2004, after a miscarriage followed by a rather troublesome break-up from her then boyfriend Viktor (a Hungarian wizard with whom she had been living for four years), Lisa decided to return to England. Her initial idea was to continue working for Gringotts, but she soon found that she hated the desk job that she had been assigned. Eager to return to field work, she started working as a freelance curse-breaker and, one year later, she realized she was making enough money to afford leaving her job at the wizarding bank, and did so. In 2006, she also began working as consultant for the Ministry, position that she maintains to this day. Meta Journal: righthrough PB: Shannyn Sossamon Player: Nyx Category: Characters